The Athletic Hockey Show - Can Demidov impact Canadiens playoff push? | Instant Reaction

Episode Date: April 8, 2025

In a surprise joint decision between the Montreal Canadiens and SKA of the KHL, one of the world’s top prospects, Ivan Demidov, will join the Habs for the rest of the season. Max, Scott, and Arpon discuss reasonable expectations for Demidov down the stretch, his potential spot in the lineup, and more. Host: Max BultmanWith: Scott Wheeler and Arpon BasuExecutive Producer: Chris FlanneryProducer: Chris Flannery Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This is the Athletic Hockey Show. Hey, everybody, Max Boltman here alongside Scott Wheeler and Arpin Basu for another episode, an emergency episode, frankly, of the athletic hockey show. Arpin, some huge news in your market today. Ivan Demadov coming to Montreal. How unexpected of an announcement was this? Extremely, I think. There was a lot of talk, chatter about Scott sending Demidov to the VHL,

which is sort of the Russian HL. or maybe even the MHL to kind of extract most value out of him as possible until his contract runs out on May 31st. I think even the Canadians were expecting that to happen that he would not get released early. So something pretty drastic changed very recently because I think definitely on the Canadian side, that was the expectation.

There was, didn't appear to be much of a willingness. I mean, Roman Rottenberg just as recently as a couple of, of days ago was talking about how Damedov would benefit from staying in Russia for another year or two and developing there and mentioning how he might not be ready to go to the NHL, that it's a very unforgiving league and mistakes get punished, which was hilarious because that's basically how he's treated Dmitov all year to suggest that it would be worse in the NHL was a bit ludicrous, but anyhow, he said it. So then for this to happen, just a matter of days later, they just got eliminated from the playoffs on Sunday. Those comments came out.

on Monday and then on Tuesday out of nowhere they announced that they're releasing him to come to Montreal in time to play regular season games that the Canadians haven't as as of this recording haven't commented on it we don't know what that's going to look like but it's a very very unexpected development I think even in the Canadians camp they weren't necessarily expecting this yeah it kind of makes it seem like he was maybe talking to Demidov when he said that right like you know Marty St. Louis actually has given quite a bit of rope to some of his young players so Yeah, that is definitely interesting. Scott, tell us a little bit about Demito of the prospect.

We know he was a high pick, obviously, a year ago. Where has his trajectory gone since then? How special of a prospect is he? I was thinking before we started, like, is this the best player outside the NHL right now? If it's not him, it's Alexander Nickition, his teammate with Scott, right? So they were the two big names, the two next big dominoes until Zeev, Boyam and company fall after the Frozen Four. they were, after Ryan Leonard moved on, they were the next two names that everybody was going to pivot to.

What is he as a prospect? I mean, until this season, three U-20 skaters in the history of the KHL had broken 40 points. Their names were Matt Veimichkov, Karel Kappersov, and Fgeny Kuznetsov. All three of those guys had 41 or 42 points. Demadov sailed past it to 49 this year, sailed past it to 49, often playing limited minutes. Like I'm talking 11, 12, 13 minutes a night on many nights, sitting in the third period often, which goes back to the irony of that Roman Rottenberg sort of message that Rappen just delivered

because they were tough on him. They sat him for the first game of the playoffs this year as their leading scorer. And then he came back and had five points in six games. So a lot to unpack with him and Roman. There were interviews this year where he looked a little grumpy in Russia. and even some Russian reporters were commenting on sort of his body language and things of that nature. But as far as the talent, we're talking about it, premium, premium talent. He was number one just a couple of months ago at the end of February when I released my

drafted prospects ranking at the athletic. Ivan Demadov was the number one prospect on the planet on that list. So I think we're talking about a high, high end prospect. And Arpin can contextualize that within Montreal. But one of the best young players to enter the Montreal Canadiens organization since the glory days, right? Like there hasn't been a talent of this caliber. And they've been spoiled with Lane Hudson this year. But really, before Lane Hudson, there hasn't been a talent of this caliber in a long, long time entering at that age at 19, 20 years old into a market like Montreal.

The language on the announcement tweet, I thought was interesting. It said he will return to St. Petersburg if he doesn't gain a foothold in the NHL. what kind of timeline do we think we're talking about in language like that for either of you if you want to venture a guess? Well, I think it's just the basic, you know, the, he's not going to LaValle. The European, yeah, the European clause that's included in many contracts, the European player sign. I don't think it's really relevant to this situation. He's not going to LaValle. The plan was never for him to go to LaValle, even before this development.

It was clear that he was penciled into the Canadians lineup for next season. with a pretty prominent role. You know, you got to understand the hoops through which the Canadians went to try and, they did not attend the Gold Star Camp in Florida when Ivan De Medov was kind of, was his showcase event. Everyone was dying to get their hands on this kid. The Canadians were one of the only teams that had the benefit of having someone in Russia for an extended period of time during Demido's draft year.

Nick Bob Rosser, co-head of amateur scouting. He's a Russian citizen. went over there on two separate occasions, met with his family. He got a ton of FaceTime. I remember when they drafted him talking about the value of watching him in practice. And just all the information he was able to get on his habits off the ice, talk to him regularly, just get a clear understanding of his motivation, which is why I think the Canadians were so confident he was not going to resign with Scott,

which was obviously their big priority for most of the season. They also, you know, Ken Hughes, Ves de la Calvier and Bobrov, went, traveled to St. Petersburg at great expense in the sense of they got pretty heavily criticized in Montreal for going to Russia at a time when Russia is obviously, you know, a less than, you know, to be seen sort of endorsing Russia at a time when no one should be. They took some heat for that and they knew they would and they did it anyway. Why? Because they wanted to make sure, A, all those conditions that Scott just mentioned, the lack of ice time, sort of the hard coaching that he was getting from Rottenberg.

They wanted to make sure that he wasn't breaking. That was a real concern for the Canadians that he was going to crack under this. And if he cracked, that maybe he would be convinced to resign there. So going there gave them the assurance that, A, he's not cracking, B, he has no intention of staying there. And so they really have nothing to worry about. I don't know yet what changed in Skos's thinking on this. The inevitability of Demyed off leaving probably became clear to that.

and that it was kind of pointless to go through this song and dance and send them down to the minors and sort of prolong this as long as possible. But it's, you know, the Canadians have a need for a top six forward. He has been slotted in there for next season. He can be slotted in today if they wanted to. They're facing the Red Wings in a few hours. But, you know, they have a back-to-back against Ottawa and Toronto. I have no idea what the logistics are of Dmitov coming to Canada and actually getting a visa and playing and all that stuff. but if he were to arrive, you know, they've got a spot on their left wing on their second line that's just screaming for something.

And so, you know, right now Alex Newhook's playing center. Line is on right wing. They've had Emil Heineman in there, a rookie. They've had Oliver Caput in there the last couple of games. A rookie. Slotting the Medov in that spot wouldn't be all that complicated. And it would give the Canadians some ability to evaluate how he's playing in the NHL, especially if they can create some more cushion for that playoff spot,

and that's why tonight's game against Detroit is going to be so vital. But if they can make it so that their final three games, let's say, are somewhat meaningless, you could give them a shot and say, hey, can this kid actually help us in the playoffs? And that would be just invaluable. And so it's still really early. I don't know what the Canadians are thinking of on this level, but to add a player of this caliber, like when Scott mentioned a long time,

Like, it's probably since Gila Fleur that you have not had a player enter the organization that had this much pedigree, this much of a can't miss feel to him, offensively at least. It's been since then. So that's like the early 70s, right? I mean, they haven't had an offensive dynamo kid like this, enter the organization with so much hype and so much anticipation since drafting Gila Fleur first overall in the early 70s. I mean, Montreal fans also not shy about, you know, holding high standards, the guys who have that hype around them and, and being loud and proud about what they expect out of these players. What is reasonable to expect from Ivan Demetov when he gets here, Scott? Well, I think it's reasonable to expect him to make place and to continue to make place. We always hear about how it gets harder against NHL defensemen and this and that and this and that.

And we heard it about Lane Hudson entering the year and how it was going to be harder for him. When players have the puck skill and are as dynamic and as talented as an Ivan Demadov is, we're now seeing it even with Will Smith and his puck skill in San Jose. Will Smith scored again last night and has really come into his own lately. Adam Fantilli's done the same in the second half here for Columbus. These kids have a way of just continuing to make plays. And the beauty of Demadov is that his 49 points in 65 games or whatever it was, plus I believe it was five and six for ska this season,

they're not jam plays at the side of the net or backdoor tap-ins or rebound goals. These are like you go through every single one of his primary assists and goals this season, and it's him making the play. So I would expect him to continue to do that. I think the big question with him has always been a pace question. He's physically fit enough. He's in great shape. He's 190 pounds.

He's a very athletic kid. One of the takeaways that everybody had when they first met him at the Gold Star Camp. in Fort Lauderdale last spring was just how fit he was. That's not an issue. The big question with him has never been the skill or the hockey sense or any of that. He's going to be able to play with talented players. He's going to be able to make things happen on the power play. All of that, I think, is going to click for him immediately.

The big question is just the pace. The skating has improved and is still, I would say, underrated and is of better quality than it was given credit for into the draft last year, frankly. but he does have a little bit of an unconventional style of skating. I'll be interested to see how that holds up as teams push for the playoffs and the pace is fast down the stretch here. That will be the real test for him. If he can keep up and play with enough energy and enough speed,

he's going to, I think, have an immediate impact if he's slotted on that second line. Just to add to that. So last year at the draft, obviously Lane Hudson was there because his brother Cole was draft eligible to wind up going in the second round to the Washington Capitals. but I spoke to Lane not long after Demyedov was drafted. And the first thing he mentioned, because he had started, like he had some of his buddies like sending him clips of Damedov and like, wow, you guys have to get this guy. He's amazing this.

And that's we started kind of following him throughout his draft year. But the first thing he mentioned about Dmitov was his skating and how great it is. And it's not surprising that Lane Hudson would find Ivan Dmitov skating to be exceptional because, yes, he doesn't have straight line speed like you would love to have. but his edge work, his ability to use his feet in unique ways to create separation, which is something that Lane Hudson does himself. It's not surprising that he would appreciate Demetov skating strengths more than the typical person would because Hudson does that himself.

And so it's like when he sees Demetov operate and use the Mohawk and this and that and all these different techniques that he uses to create separation with his feet, that's not necessarily traditional typical speed, but it's not necessarily traditional typical speed, but it's still skating skill. I just found that really telling. And the more I kind of watched DeMitov, the more he reminded me of Hudson's skating style and how he uses his edges to create separation and deception

and incorporated into his offensive package. So that was something that Lane identified a long time ago. And now I don't think he imagined at the time that he would get a chance to play with Demiato as recently as or as soon as now, but that seems to be imminent here. And they both just flat out make guys miss. Like he might not even end up with the puck on his stick. He might not get bullied.

He might not get pushed around. He just has a way of making guys miss and of sidestepping pressure. So that in and of itself, I think, will be fascinating to watch because I think immediately you might see him beat some guys and the bell center is going to get loud when he dances that first guy laterally. Oh, my God. if he plays a game at the Bell Center this year, like,

loud is an understatement of what will happen. If he actually gets in uniform, like we don't know what the Canadians are going to do here, but if he gets into a game in this environment with the Canadians like on the verge of making the playoffs for the first time in four years, and then this guy shows up, that's going to be a special night if it happens.

Exciting news in Montreal today. That's going to do it for us. Sean and Haley, be back with you on Wednesday. We'll talk to you soon.